Man threatened to gouge out ex-girlfriend's father's eyes, Naas court told
A Kildare man received an online threat to have his eyes gouged out by his daughter's former partner. A one-year civil restraining order was granted at Naas District Court.
One-year restraining order granted after eye-gouging threat at Naas District Court
A man appeared before Naas District Court after allegedly sending an online threat to his former girlfriend's father, stating "I'll gouge your eyes out myself," kildarenow.com reports.
The father told the court the message arrived "out of the blue" and had been sent by a man who had dated his daughter, a relationship that ended several years prior. He said he believed the sender was experiencing mental health difficulties, and noted that litter had been left on his car around the same period the man was allegedly discarding rubbish at a business premises in a Kildare town.
"I don't know what he might do in the future," the father told Judge Derek Cooney, adding that his daughter already held a restraining order against the individual. He confirmed that no direct confrontation had taken place between the two men. While he did not personally witness the man throw rubbish on his car, CCTV footage reportedly showed him littering elsewhere.
The man who sent the message told the court he had been in a "terrible mental state" at the time and had subsequently been referred to a psychiatric setting. He stated that he is now living a considerable distance from the area and would not be near where the applicant resides, and said he had proof of his new address. He told the court he was experiencing a serious episode during which he was receiving what he described as subliminal messages that were not real.
"It doesn't represent me," he said of the threat, when questioned about the message. Asked how he could offer reassurance to the applicant, he said he was working hard to help himself. He confirmed he does not have a formal diagnosis, is not on medication, but is attending counselling at his current location.
When the applicant alleged that the man had been taking drugs and smoking cannabis at the time, the man responded that he no longer does so.
Judge Cooney described it as "deeply disturbing and distressing" to receive such a message, while also accepting that the man had suffered a breakdown from reality. He expressed concern, however, that no professional had yet diagnosed what had occurred. The judge said he had sympathy for people with mental health difficulties, but that the man could not make any contact with the applicant or his family.
Judge Cooney granted a civil restraining order for one year. He warned that any breach of the order could result in a legal process leading to a twelve-month custodial term.
Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)